What a shame!

In a case of severe dereliction of duty, police officers in Udaipur victim-shamed a teenager and lectured her father when they tried to lodge a complaint against an unidentified man who had was sending sexually abusive messages on Instagram, and even threatened to upload morphed photos of the girl.

The police instead of offering help told the girl and her father that she had too much freedom and she should get off social media.

The girl's sister, Saleha Paatwala, said in a Facebook post, "They VICTIM-SHAMED my sister and tried to influence my father to stop her from using cellphones and social media accounts. Shouldn't they be filing cases instead of telling my sister to get off social media?"

Paatwala said on her Facebook post that the cops commented on the community that the teenager belonged to. Paatwala quoted the cops as saying, "Aap Bohra logo ko parents se bhaut azadi mili hui hai isliye ap logo ke sath ye bahut hota hai." (Bohras have given their children a lot of freedom and that is why it happens). Why do you post pictures on social media? "What he has done with you, he will do it with others as well. You should delete your social media accounts in order to be safe."

Though Suraj Pole branch of the cyber cell lodged a complaint, the post says they police said that they dealt with only ATM-related cyber thefts.

In another post from Tuesday, six days since her sister and father first approached the police, Paatwala said that they were told that the process will take atleast 25 days. "We are not very advanced with technology. We have no knowledge," Paatwala quoted the police as saying.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi responded to Paatwala on Twitter and promised action.

Frustrated with the fact that her father and sister have had to run from pilar to post trying to get justice, Paatwala wrote on Facebook, "I really hope something will come up from the Ministry. I really hope."